Diamond: Experienced pros will keep Northampton players grounded

Jeremy Casey

Zander Diamond says the experienced players in the Cobblers camp will ensure players keep their feet on the ground as they try to maintain their chase for Sky Bet League Two promotion.

With a more than a third of the season played, Town moved up to third in the table and the automatic promotion places with their 1-0 win over Mansfield Town last weekend.

It is just reward for a great start to the season by Chris Wilder’s men, and altough Diamond admits the team’s form means they are in a confident mood, they won’t be getting too confident.

The Cobblers squad has plenty of young players in it and only a handful of old heads, and Diamond accepts the likes of himself, skipper Marc Richards and Chris Hackett have a big part to play in keeping feet on the ground.

Town travel to Notts County on Saturday (ko 3pm), and Diamond admitted: “We are quietly confident.

“When you are winning football matches it breeds confidence, and the experienced boys in the team have to make sure everybody doesn’t get ahead of themselves and keep their feet on the ground.

“It’s an old cliche and we will take one game at a time, but on the pitch it is an enjoyable time for us at the moment.

“Nothing is won in November. If we are still up there at the end of the season then the plaudits will come our way.

“We aren’t going to get ahead of ourselves, and all we can do is keep winning football matches.

“It’s up to others to talk about us, but in the changing room we are a close-knit group and we are just getting on with it.”

Saturday’s opponents County are sitting in a 15th place after a sluggish start to the season.

They were dumped out of the FA Cup in front of the BBC TV cameras at non-League Salford City a fortnight ago, but did win their most recent league two game, beating Portsmouth 2-1 at Meadow Lane, and Diamond says they will be a dangerous opponent.

“They will be hurting,” said the former Aberdeen defender.

“They have had a bad result in the FA Cup, and then they’ve had a two-week gap, and there will be a lot of players that will want to go and put that right.

“We have to be prepared for that, but the manager will have that all drilled into us.

“When you are on a run and have momentum, you want the games to come thick and fast.

“We will go to Notts County with the same gameplan as we always do, which is to win football matches but equally, be hard to beat.

“We are looking forward to it and just want the games to keep coming, because at this football club the fans will not accept anything less.

“The team winning puts a smile on their faces.

“You could see them after Coventry and you could see the smiles on their faces, they stayed behind when we got the draw at Newport, they stayed behind again at Sixfields on Saturday.

“It is fantastic for them at the minute, and hopefully we can get another three points for them at the weekend.”